Senate likely to vote Monday on bill with 45Z change, no public land sale

The Senate on Saturday night moved to advance the budget reconciliation bill formally known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The vote was 51-49, The Washington Post reported. Assuming the bill passes the Senate, it returns to the House where some Republicans have objections to the Senate’s changes, particularly on how the Medicaid provisions would affect tural hospitals.
The Democrats insisted that the bill be read out loud and that reading is going on now.
The bill’s prospects are still uncertain in both the Senate and House, the Post said.
“Mike is nervous as a pregnant nun right now,” Sen. John Neely Kennedy. R-La., told the Post on Friday, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “He doesn’t know if he can get what we’re doing past his House.”
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and former aide to President Trump, who had earlier criticized the bill, posted on X Saturday, “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who turned 54 on Saturday, later posted that the bill would be “political suicide for the Republican Party,” the Associated Press reported.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., released the text of the bill along with links to details from each of the committees. The Agriculture section cuts spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by increasing work requirements and requiring the states to pay for a portion of SNAP benefits if a state’s payment error rate is above 6%.
It also increases spending for some farm programs.
The Congressional Budget Office released the latest score on the bill.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the score showed “the bill would add about $500 billion less to the deficit than extending all the expiring 2017 tax cuts.”
“Against a more appropriate current law baseline, and including interest, these numbers suggest the bill would add over $3.9 trillion to the national debt. Specifically, the bill includes roughly $4.45 trillion of net tax cuts and nearly $300 billion of gross spending increase, partially offset by nearly $1.5 trillion of gross spending cuts. We estimate the bill would increase interest costs by nearly $700 billion.”
The latest text modified the text of the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, which pleased the National Oilseed Processors Association and the American Soybean Association.
In a news release, NOPA said the Senate version will now “maintain the House-passed requirement that only North American feedstocks can benefit from the credit, disqualifying imported feedstocks such as Chinese ‘UCO’ and South American tallow from receiving U.S. taxpayer support.”
NOPA also said, “The Senate also included the elimination of the indirect land use change (ILUC) penalty, an arbitrary and outdated tariff on U.S. farmers, which helps level the playing field for soybean and canola growers.”
“Phasing out ILUC ensures emissions calculations are based on real-world environmental data, not flawed theoretical models that serve only to burden the individuals feeding and fueling our country. The Senate bill also expanded the Small Agri-Biodiesel Producer credit to 20 cents per gallon and allows for transferability of the 45Z credit, ensuring smaller biofuel producers can participate.”
“NOPA applauds the Senate for prioritizing American farmers and U.S. energy dominance,” said NOPA President and CEO Devin Mogler.
“Maintaining and improving upon the House-passed language ensures that tax policy is aligned with the broader policy goals of supporting our farmers and producers over foreign actors. The soy crushing sector has made the investments to supply the feedstocks necessary to achieve higher RVOs and continue to strengthen U.S. energy dominance.”
American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland, who grows soy in Kentucky, said, “Soybean farmers have long advocated for biofuel tax credits that put American farmers and our rural economies first, and ASA commends the Senate for their continued commitment to U.S. agriculture.”
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership said it “celebrates a critical win for America’s public lands: the removal of proposed public land sales from the Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill. This victory is a testament to the strength and unity of hunters, anglers, outdoor advocates, and conservation-minded lawmakers who stood up for what’s right.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, withdrew his provision to require the federal government to sell some land in the western states.
“Hunters and anglers made it abundantly clear that reconciliation is not the appropriate vehicle for public land sales,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the TRCP. “Public lands are a cornerstone of our national heritage, our outdoor traditions, and the economies of countless communities across the country.”
“The removal of public land sales from the budget bill is more than a legislative correction — it’s a reminder of the power of collective advocacy,” Pedersen continued. “This outcome affirms our long-held belief: when we unite, we win.”
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal group, said the Senate could still “abandon disastrous rushed reconciliation bill,” citing the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.